Safety at the center of Great SUV Debate

Don't tell Don Bristol that SUVs are unsafe. The Round Lake Beach man owns two, and he's looking to buy a new one.

"You get to sit up higher, which is a safety thing," Bristol said. "You get a good feel of the road. In a lighter car, you tend to bounce around more."

For years, government safety numbers have told another story: Sport-utility vehicles and pickups are more dangerous than cars because their high ground clearance makes them prone to roll over. Rollovers account for 61 percent of deaths in SUVs, 44 percent in pickups and 22 percent in cars, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Now, the head of that agency has leveled the most direct criticism yet of SUVs, fueling America's love-them-or-hate-them debate over the big vehicles. Jeffrey Runge, the nation's top highway safety official, warned Tuesday that the government would set tougher safety standards if automakers didn't build safer SUVs and pickups.

"I would not put an inexperienced driver in a vehicle that is rollover-prone," Runge said in Detroit, where he addressed a conference of auto industry officials and analysts.

Runge's remarks upset carmakers, who questioned his credentials and pointed to other statistics that they say show the problem is too few people wearing seat belts.

Meanwhile, drivers--those who swear by their SUVS and those in smaller cars who swear at them--found another opportunity to square off in the Great SUV Debate. Along with concerns about rollovers and damage that the big autos can inflict in collisions, SUVs have come under fire from environmentalists who say they consume too much gas.

Becky Davidson wasn't shy about sharing her feelings for SUVs as she shopped Wednesday in downtown Chicago.

"They're big. They're ugly. They hog the road," she said. "And people who drive them think they can drive recklessly because they're in a big, safe SUV."

Despite the government's concerns and the complaints of those who drive smaller vehicles, SUV owner Bristol won't be deterred. He says the higher stance and all-wheel-drive capability of his 2001 Toyota 4Runner make him feel more secure.

"On a bad day, any vehicle would roll in certain circumstances," he said. "The key is--if you're a responsible driver, you're a good driver--you shouldn't find yourself in a tenuous position."